Teaching about health systems in the UAE

Abstract

Introduction: In many countries, health systems face challenges as they adapt to demographic change, new disease patterns and rising costs. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is no exception. Its health system is facing the twin challenges of maintaining quality while avoiding escalating costs. As the future leaders of the health system in which they work, medical students will be in a strong position to bring about change and improvement. However their effectiveness will be restricted by gaps in their knowledge of what health systems are and how they function, topics that are rarely dealt with in medical school curricula (Patel et al. 2009). The undergraduate medical curriculum should prepare students not only for clinical excellence but also to take their place as leaders of complex health systems (Berwick & Finkelstein 2010).